As allegations swirl around Texas Tech basketball coach Billy Gillispie, supporters have come forward to speak on his behalf.

Jerry Nash, the father of former Texas Tech forward Jaron Nash, said he believes Gillispie has been painted in an unfair light, as reports he allegedly mistreated players and exceeded NCAA limits on practice time have surfaced over the last two weeks.

“Billy Gillispie is a friend of mine,” Jerry Nash told the Avalanche-Journal in a telephone interview. “I consider him a great coach, a great person and a great man.”

Jaron Nash transferred to North Dakota after one season with the Red Raiders, during which he averaged 2.5 points in 8.5 minutes per game. He played in 27 games.

Nash’s father said his son’s decision to leave Tech had nothing to do with Gillispie.

Jerry Nash has multiple sclerosis, and after being able to see only two of Jaron’s games in the last two seasons — once when Jaron was a freshman at Tyler Junior College, the other when Tech played at Iowa State last season — he was desperate for his son to play closer to home.

“A big part of fighting MS is not getting depressed, trying to stay positive,” Jerry Nash said. “Being able to see Jaron play, that’s everything to me.”

Jaron Nash heeded his father’s wishes and asked for his scholarship release following last season. Jerry Nash said he appreciates the way Gillispie handled the situation, and it didn’t stop at allowing his son’s release, he said.

Shortly after Nash was granted that release, Gillispie helped enter the Tech team into an awareness walk for multiple sclerosis around Jones AT&T Stadium as a tribute to Jerry Nash, who was diagnosed with the disease in 1999, he said.

“He doesn’t dislike Coach Gillispie, not at all,” Jerry Nash said. “And I don’t dislike him. He didn’t dog my son. He just got worked hard, and that’s how it is. Life is all about sacrifice.”

Jerry Nash said he has attempted to reach out to Gillispie but hasn’t been successful.

Other figures close to Gillispie and the program have come to the embattled coach’s defense in recent days.

Andy Ellis, a former Red Raider forward who traveled with the team last season as a member of the radio broadcasting staff, believes the allegations don’t provide the whole story.

In an interview with the Avalanche-Journal, Ellis addressed a number of the allegations Gillispie is facing, including claims he often practiced players for too long, made players practice while injured and demeaned members of his support staff by forcing them to run if they missed shots in a layup line with players the night before games.

“That was just something he did for fun,” Ellis said of the latter topic. “It wasn’t anything that anybody took real seriously.”

Ellis also spoke to an allegation that freshman Jordan Tolbert, immediately after suffering a four-inch gash on his hand as a result of contact with the rim, had the hand taped and was then told to dunk the ball every time he caught it.

“From the beginning of the season, Coach Gillispie was telling Tolbert he needed to dunk it every time he got it,” said Ellis, who played under former Tech coaches James Dickey and Bob Knight. “I’ve had that same injury he had, where you cut your hand on the rim. After you tape your fingers together, you just go back out and play, and it doesn’t hurt anymore.”

Ellis, currently an assistant athletic director and assistant basketball coach at Trinity Christian, also addressed allegations of practices running too long. He said players can sometimes perceive practices to be longer than they actually are, particularly when their team is struggling like Tech did last season, when it finished 8-23.

“I’ve been on a bad team before,” Ellis said. “My junior year we were bad. When you’re struggling like that, it can feel like a practice never ends. There were plenty of times that year when I would be at the arena at eight in the morning and wouldn’t leave until nine at night. Does that mean we’re practicing that whole time? No.”

Players have come to Gillispie’s defense, too.

Incoming freshman Josh Gray, a Houston Wheatley product who has been with the program since the start of the summer, voiced his support on Twitter last week.

“Prayers go out to my head coach,” Gray tweeted. “Keep our head up everything will be alright.”

He later added: “S/O (shout out) to my coach I’m 110% behind you.”

Walk-on guard Luke Adams tweeted, in apparent defense of Gillispie: “If it wasn’t hard everyone would do it. It’s the hard that makes it great.”

Former Tech forward Robert Lewandowski, the lone senior on last season’s Red Raider team, backed Gillispie in an interview with ESPN.com. (Multiple messages left on Lewandowski’s cell phone by the Avalanche-Journal were not immediately returned.)

“I would play for him again,” Lewandowski told ESPN.com. “He loves his players, with no exceptions. I would never doubt that for a second. Playing for him was tough, but I came out alive and a better person.”

Lewandowski said on multiple occasions last season Gillispie’s tough approach was aimed at getting his players to become more than just teammates.

“It’s a brotherhood that you form, and it’s not something that I’ll ever take lightly,” Lewandowski told the Avalanche-Journal in March, “and it’s not something that I’ll ever dismiss. Even if they were freshmen or whatever, they’ll be my brothers forever.”

Gillispie has not commented on the allegations since leaving University Medical Center on Thursday. He spent six days at UMC being treated for high blood pressure.

Tech athletic director Kirby Hocutt last week revealed the university self-reported secondary violations in January for exceeding practice time limits last fall. At the time, Hocutt said Gillispie was given a written reprimand and told there would be “zero tolerance for further disregard of the rules.”

A story on the website Deadspin.com on Saturday, citing an unnamed source, reported Gillispie will be fired from his position as Tech’s basketball coach following his return from medical leave.

Hocutt on Saturday declined to comment on that report.

Asked on Wednesday by the Avalanche-Journal whether Gillispie could face termination if allegations against him are proven true, Hocutt responded: “We’ve got some serious issues on the table that we’re working through. What the end result is, I don’t want to speculate. I can’t get ahead of myself here.

“We’ve got to take it day by day, step by step. We will get to the right place.”

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while well-meaning and heartfelt, didn't seem to help when the same heartfelt, sincere and even passionate testimonies were offered for the last TTU coach who was accused of mistreating a player and fired before a REAL investigation could take place.
The standard has been set, and for the Administration not to follow it now would stink to high heaven.
And don't give me that unsubstantiated "He told the boss eff-you and that's the difference" stuff. Really? Somebody is THAT thin-skinned?

Coach and Tech are strange bedfellows at the moment, but it works for me! We dont need to brake any rules ( like we are the only ones,ie: OU and Baylor ) but it is what it is. Drastic times require drastic measures sometimes and so it is what it is. But we gave coach Billy Clyde and chance and he is just workin his tail off trying to dho the best he can. Kirby will surely tweak him a little and then lets get off his back . Billy Clyde jus needs a better support group up here to help him and people need to cheer him on and support him and not look down their noses.

Youve been listening to the tech propaganda machine (ie the entire Lubbock media) too much. That was "ol four eyes" allegation. The same guy that has changed his version of the story 5 or 6 times before just settling for "screw it, we have sovereign immunity".

Hmmmm. Rushing to judgment based on statements made by the disgruntled. Does this ring a bell?

The last time a scenario like this went down in Lubbock, Hance and the Fat Rats rushed to fire a man based on allegations that were later recanted when the speaker learned that lying in state district court in Texas is a criminal offense. (Smart child) The final result was a firing based on fraudulent "facts." The coach was found to be insubordinate because he would not admit in writing to actions described in the retracted statement. (I'm not making this up.) The chancellor alleged the coach applied a profanity to His Eminence, yet nobody else heard the alleged remark. (Wonder if the documented liar was lying?)

Last time something like this went down, Hance grabbed the microphone and tied the world record by not speaking a single truth, as proved when THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS obtained e-mails among the Fat Rats proving their long standing conspiracy. Hance has not given a general audience interview since.

Consider this: If Gillespie is discharged, Hance would be forced to give numerous interviews--and all interviews would inquire about his previous lying. I Don't think his astonishing ego has an appetite for that.

again you distort the truth. This is no way similiar to the Leach breakdown. Mr. Leach lost control and got fired. He was an insubordinate employee on many counts and yes telling your boss to go "f...." yourself will in most cases get you fired...and yes it is substantiated in depositions and Leach has never denied it. The problem here is if BCG violated NCAA rules a second time after being warned not to by the administration....if he did, he needs to be fired...end of story. We don't need coaches who feel they are bigger than the University and will eventually do the school more harm. Zero tolerance for rules infractions and zero tolerance for insubordination....them's da facts. I hope BCG proves to be innocent.

You are partially right. But, I think the door is about to hit Gillespie. Hance, it appears, doesn't want him any more. He has started the rumor mill and he is toning it up. His crew will start (or has started) posting letters about Gillespie violating this rule or that rule and then there will be more allegations and Hocutt will announce Gillespie gone.

They already have the "Players" complaining that he has abused them and made them work. Oh well. Welcome to Tech sports.

Yes your right, welcome to tech sports. Imagine where a coach is responsible for his and only his actions good and bad.... Of course frank you and coyote and facts( although I think he is trying to reform himself in therapy) are going to spin this to be hance's fault. We wouldn't have thought anything different. Yes hance broke NCAA rules twice, yes hance has all the allegations of a windmill of players flying thru the program in a short period of time...uh dream on stooges.

Wscott hit the nail on the head, leach lost control, thought he was bigger than the program and got canned. Hopefully BCG will not have done anything to be fired....we will see

@ wscott -- what do you mean "telling your boss to go "f...." yourself will in most cases get you fired...and yes it is substantiated in depositions and Leach has never denied it " ?
I thought he had very much denied that! In his book and in several interviews, I thought he claimed that was never said!

Allegedly that's just Hance who claimed he said that. Just because it's in a deposition, doesn't mean the conversation was verified by any other parties!

While the two incidents have their similarities, they are worlds apart in many ways. In the case of BCG, we have serious NCAA infractions being alleged. Alas, that's not the avenue down which you're going.

Both coaches were accused to mistreating student athletes. In fact, both were accused of mistreating INJURED student athletes. If that's the truth in the case of BCG, he needs to be gone. Such a thing puts the university in a tremendous position of liability, and an indefensible one at that.

The difference here is how the two respective coaches reacted to the investigations. Gillespie is doing the right thing---allowing the investigation to play out. One of the reasons Leach was fired "before the investigation could be completed" was because Leach wouldn't allow the investigation to play itself out as BCG has. He chose instead to file an injunction to be allowed to coach his team while the investigation was ongoing. Leach forced Tech's hand. To this point at least, Gillespie hasn't.

Who has said that violations have occured twice. Kirby said that the over extended workouts were resolved in Jan. I hope that this media driven story is taken for what it really is. Reminds me of "Hoosiers"when the entire town wanted the coach fired. He wanted to tear the players down, then build them back up. Let the process be completed.

Who has said that violations have occured twice. Kirby said that the over extended workouts were resolved in Jan. I hope that this media driven story is taken for what it really is. Reminds me of "Hoosiers"when the entire town wanted the coach fired. He wanted to tear the players down, then build them back up. Let the process be completed.

Guilty or innocent, I do hope that Gillispie gets a fair shake and an honest ruling, but I doubt it. As JFK said, where there is smoke there is a smoke making machine. Hance and the boys (and the subservient local media) seem to have the machine revved up full blast. Still Hance is in a bit of a dilemma. If he ignores claims of abuse of players, whether true or false, he looks foolish and inconsistent and reminds people that the Leach affair had nothing to do with mistreating anyone. If he runs Gillispie out of town on a rail, and the accusations prove to be false or insignificant, he looks arbitrary and vindictive and reminds people that the Leach affair had nothing to do with mistreating anyone. Of course he could claim that it's all Hocutt's decision and he would never mess with a lower level personnel issue, but no one not being paid to do so would believe that. So who knows what he will do?

To see all the Hancers line up like little soldiers in front our chancellor. Led by wscott (aka mojo), they are like little internet first responders, always standing (in this case, sitting) at the ready with their "if they say this (which is the truth), im gonna respond with this" notebook of excuses, spin, and questioning of loyalties. And, as is normally the case, theres bill214 running right behind them with his winnie the pooh shorts and tinfoil hat, always ready to mimic their posts with the addition of internet jargon and misspelled words. Quite a comical bunch.

It's been my experience when people catch you off guard with a question, people usually tell the truth. Only after they have time to think about what they were asked and their response that is when they back track a think to themselves " maybe I shouldn't have said that." That is when people try to get "politically correct"

How is ol BCG handling things today, 9/14/12 ? I guess I missed Leach going to MD Anderson with jock itch during the almost 2 week proceedings. Youre right. Worlds of difference in how they reacted. And how the administration reacted. If Craig James had the Hancellor on a leash about this issue like last time. BCG would be a distant memory. And the next guy would have already enrolled his kids in Frenship, promised championships, and the fm sports radio guys who belong to TTU would already be telling us how he needs to get "his people" in here to win because BCG left the cupboard bare. Aint that how it works now?